Ultimate Sacrifice
by RedRosePetal
Summary: The Pharaoh is ready to leave this world for good, he has done what he had been reborn to do. But alas it was not meant to be. Something stops him leaving and could eventually force him to make an Ultimate Sacrifice.
1. Chapter 1

So I'm back! For a possible a proper ficlet! :D Well, that all depends on whether you guys like it and I can make a full plan for it and that I like it! ... What the hell let's go for it! WOOOHOOO!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! It belongs to Kazuki Takahashi

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**Chapter 1**

"I am the son of King Aknamkanon. My name is Atem."

Yugi watched as the doors to the afterlife opened. Tears were building in his eyes again as he watched his closest friend prepare to leave this world for good. Yugi saw Atem glance over towards him before taking a step forwards. But, all of a sudden there was a burst of black light. The darkness filled the room, no one could see anything. No one moved. No one said anything, they knew not what to say. The silence dragged on but then a choked cry and the sound of someone hitting the floor.

"What's going on." Marik cried.

"Not a clue." Joey called back.

"Is everyone alr-"

Yugi's question was interrupted by a pained cried.

"Who is that?" Tea cried.

There was no chance to answer as someone cried out again, whoever it was sounded as if they were in agony. As someone continue to cry out in pain the darkness around them began to rush around them like they were now standing in high winds. The darkness slowly began to lift revealing that the person crying out in agony.. was Atem. Yugi could see him writhing on the floor but was unable to reach him as the wind was so strong. Yugi watched as Atem writhed and cried out, it sounded so unnatural. The sounds of the wind and Atem's cries filled the room for what seemed to be an age. But then it all stopped, so sudden that the silence that followed was eerie. All eyes were on Atem, for a moment he just lay there but then he go to his feet. There was something different about him now, the eyes. His eyes were bright red, instead of their normal amethyst.

"You thought I was gone for good." It was Atem speaking, but it was not his voice.

The voice was more demonic, making things much more creepy.

"But as long as people have darkness within them, then the Lord of Darkness exists."

"What's going on here?" Marik demanded, frowning at Atem.

Atem's eyes dared to Marik and glazed at him with such intensity that Marik appeared to flinch.

"Oh, you'll find out. Very soon."

The red dissolved from Atem's eyes to be replaced by amethyst. There was another burst of black light which zoomed past them and out of the chamber. At the same time Atem collapsed, his eyes rolling back at his fell. Everyone was watching the darkness zooming out of the chamber that the failed to notice Atem falling. There was the unmistakable sound of a head hitting the ground, at that point it was only Yugi who noticed. He raced forwards, dropping to his knees beside Atem. From what Yugi could see Atem was unconscious and was bleeding from a small cut above his eyebrow.

"What the hell just happened? " Joey asked.

"I don't know.." Marik said, turning around to look at the Pharaoh.

Upon seeing Yugi supporting the unconscious King, he went running over.

"What happened Yugi?" Marik said, frantically.

"I don't know he just fell." Yugi replied.

The others had come over by this point. They were all in shock. They could not understand how this happened. How and why was all this happening?

* * *

The atmosphere on the boat was not pleasant. It was eerily silent even though all but two of the boat's occupants were in the same room. They were sat around the table, every one of them was lost in their own thoughts. No one had noticed how much time had passed, the sun had been high in the sky but now it was setting. Although they were not speaking all their thoughts were the same. They were all wondering what had happened and why. After everything that had happened in the last four years they had thought it would all go right for once, but now. Now, another thing had happened. Not one of them could believe that something like this was happening... again.

* * *

Yugi sighed as he observed the unconscious person lying in the bed. It had been hours now, and Atem had not stirred once. Yugi had no idea what had happened and why but right at that moment all he cared about was making sure Atem was ok. As if on cue, Atem's eyelids fluttered. They did not open but a frown crossed his face. Yugi leant forwards in his chair, watching as Atem gave a deep sigh.

"Pharaoh? You alright?" Yugi asked.

The frown deepened on the latter's face, "..I'm screamed like a girl didn't I?"

Yugi smiled slightly, "Sort of..."

"Fantastic." Atem replied, sarcastically.

Yugi suppressed a laugh saying; "Well all things considered no one can blamed you. It looked awful from where I was standing."

Atem sat up, swinging his legs out of bed, "It was."

Atem rubbed his face, his hand caught something on the slide of his head. There was a small dressing covering the cut on his head. He was able to put two and two together. Looking over to Yugi he smiled, seeing the concern on the other's face.

"Atem? What's going on?"

"I... well..." Atem paused, then got to his feet, "Let's go to the others, I'd rather explain this only once."

Yugi was about to question whether Atem should be walking around at this moment but decided against it. He followed the former king out of the room, pointing him in the direction of the room where the others sat.

The room was silent when they entered, all the occupants were still lost in their own thoughts. But when they saw who had entered the room they looked up, Marik even stood.

"Pharaoh? Are you alright? What happened?" Marik said.

Atem made no answer at first, he took a seat and interlocked his fingers. The others all sat, Yugi having taken a seat as well, and watched the former Pharaoh.

"I believe that Zorc has returned. How he had have managed that, I do not know but I intend to find out." He said, finally.

"But then what happened to you?" Ishizu asked.

Atem scratched the back of his head, "I'm not too sure. I do not remember much of that but I believe that Zorc used me to come back. How that works I do not know?"

There was a pause as everyone went back into their thoughts, but after a few minutes Marik had a sudden thought;

"You said something! You said something about their being darkness in the world meaning the Lord of Darkness exists."

Atem just stared at him, "I did? I have no memory of that."

"You did man, it was weird." Joey said, "Your eyes were bright red and your voice.. it just sounded so frightening."

The Pharaoh sighed, closing his eyes. Zorc had used him to come back into this world and then announced his return. He had been used by Zorc like a puppet.

"What can we do, Pharaoh?" Marik asked.

"Just... give me time to work this out." Atem said.

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Soo that's it my friends!

Please do let me know what you think so far as it will help me to see whether this is worth carrying on! I am working on the plan now so please do let me know.

So I will see you next time, hopefully! :D

-RedRosePetal


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks to my reviewers:** SerenePanic. Aqua girl 007, ASAP Rocky, Atem-Lover4eva, scourgestarleaderofMoonClan**

I do apologise to my reviewers… I meant to message you in thanks... but I sort of forgot… SORRY! I PROMISE I WILL THIS WEEK!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! It belongs to Kazuki Takahashi.

So I am back! Later then I wanted to as.. well Sims 3 distracted me. But mainly the fact that this was delayed is because I am at University so the work I need to do, naturally, has to come first – that being sad I think my last assignment is about to be submitted so fingers crossed..

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**Chapter 2**

The boat made its way along the river, the night was calm. There was a slight breeze which was quite pleasant. The occupants of the boat were inside, all except one. One occupant was leaning against the railings, watching the Valley of the Kings slip away. Atem sighed. This was not what he wanted to happen. He thought that he'd defeated Zorc, that was what he had been told. He should have seen this coming and not of got his hopes up about finally going back to the place where he belonged. He dropped his gaze to his hands and sighed again. The problem was now, he had no clue what was going to happen now. He did not know why Zorc had returned, but he could probably guess, or why Zorc had used him to speak to the others rather than show himself in person. If Atem was honest he didn't want to deal with this, as selfish as it sounded he just wanted to go back to his family. But alas he could not. He dropped his head into his hands, failing to notice that someone had joined him on the deck.

"You alright, Atem."

Atem immediately straighten up, cursing himself for letting someone see that momentary weakness. He turned to face the new comer and relaxed seeing that it was Yugi. Smiling slightly he turned back to watch the Valley of the Kings vanish, Yugi came over to join him.

"We may not have our link but I still know when something isn't right Atem." Yugi said, "I know you too well."

A small smile appeared on the other's face again but it was soon gone.

"It doesn't matter."

Yugi sighed, he knew that there was no point trying to push the subject when Atem was unwilling to discuss it.

"So, what do we do now?" Yugi said, "I'm assuming we are heading to Cario and then going home."

To his surprise the latter shook his head.

"No, I have to find Zorc and Cario is the best place to start. He will not know this world being as it is so different from ours so I am assuming he will start there."

"Then what?"

"I don't know."

Yugi studied the other's face, he could see that Atem was in no mood to talk. He quietly excused himself and moved back inside, but he paused at the door. Atem had not moved a muscle, his gaze was still fixed on the distance skyline. Sighed, Yugi slipped inside. Atem heard to door click behind him, hanging his head he sighed once more.

'_Why the long face, Pharaoh?'_

Atem head snapped up, he glanced around. He was completely alone.

'_Have you finally released that you have no hope in stopping me._'

"You know that I will always stop you Zorc." Atem said, glaring at thin air.

'_We are so alike you and I. So stubborn._'

"We are nothing alike."

'_Oh but we are Pharaoh._'

Atem didn't reply to Zorc, for one he was half wondering how Zorc was talking to him. But also, he just in some ways he was just hoping that this would all go away. He knew that it wouldn't. Glaring up at the sky Atem said;

"I will stop you Zorc I have done it twice before I will do it again."

'_You can try Pharaoh._'

He did not know what happened next, he just felt a searing pain and the world was dark once more.

* * *

He had never been in a form like this before and honestly it felt weird. But it was something he was going to have to get used to. He walked further down the street; passing a window he paused to admire himself. Not too shabby if he said so himself. Sleek black hair tied back into a small, neat ponytail. Black suit covering a slim but muscular body. His eyes… His eyes were red. Zorc smirked at his reflection. He looked like a human, he fitted in. Now he just had to take over the world, but the question was… how? He continued to walk on down the street, studying the people who were walking up and down the street. A girl whose.. what he assumed to be a tunic was far too short. Well if that was a method of taking over the world, he would _not_ use that. His eyes surfed the crowds searching.

"Well, just tell Steven that he will have to complete by tomorrow."

Zorc paused, listening to the conversation.

"I don't care if tomorrow's his day off; tell him that I except it on my desk by 12pm." At this point the man on the phone walked straight into Zorc, "Oh I'm sorry."

Zorc could have reacted but he choose not to. He gazed at the man's retreating back. Using his shadow powers he read the man's mind. He was a business man, in charge of a huge company. This was interesting. Maybe this was a way to dominate the world, one company at a time. Smirking to himself, Zorc strolled away up the street. It was time to make a plan.

* * *

Grandpa stood and stretched. He'd been sitting there for quite some time, he might have dozed off he wasn't sure. Deciding some fresh air would do before turning in for the night, he stepped out of his cabin and out onto the deck. He only put one foot on the deck when he saw someone sprawled on the floor who looked very much like his grandson. Rushing over he discovered it was not Yugi but the Pharaoh. Just as Grandpa knelt beside the former King, he began to stir. His eyelids fluttered and opened.

"Are you ok?" Grandpa asked.

"…Yeah. I think so."

Atem tried to sit up but Grandpa laid a gentle hand on his shoulder, pushing him down.

"This is the second time you've collapsed in 12 hours and hit your head. Stay down for a while."

Atem sighed, closing his eyes. His head was pounding, his hand moved to the pounding side of his head without really thinking. He vaguely heard another person approach them until there were quiet words passed between the two. The new person left but reappeared a few minutes later. Something cold was pressed to the pounding side of his head. Opening his eyes again, Atem saw that it was Yugi pressing an ice pack to his head. Yugi smiled at him and he returned that smile weakly. Taking the ice pack from Yugi, Atem held it against his head. He closed his eyes once more. Time passed and after perhaps thirty minutes had past Atem spoke:

"This is all so wrong."

"How so?" Yugi asked.

Atem opened his eyes, "It wasn't supposed to be like this, I should be back where I belong but yet again I am denied it again."

Yugi did not know what to say, he glanced at Grandpa.

"Everything happens for a reason, you'll be home soon." Grandpa said.

A small smile crossed Atem's face.

"You ready to get up?" Grandpa asked.

A nod was the response. Yugi helped him to stand up and soon he was in his room, climbing into bed where he was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

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So… I know this was late but I hope it was good so I hope you can forgive me.

Please do leave a review!

I will try to get the next one out soon!

~RedRosePetal


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks for Reviewing: **ASAP Rocky, Aqua girl 007, scourgestarleaderofMoonClan, SerenePanic, Atem-Lover4eva**

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! It belongs to Kazuki Takahashi.

So…. You know when I said I had no University work left… I lied… turns out I still have more to do. BRING ON THE SUMMER HOLIDAYS!

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**Chapter 3**

To say that Atem had been angry when he's woken would be an understatement. He'd been fuming and marched off the boat. Yugi had attempted to get him to calm down but… well he was too angry by this time. Yugi had very rarely seen Atem completely lose control of his temper, the obvious time being during the mess with Dartz. But this time, yes he was furious but it was not aimed at anyone else.

Yugi sighed. He was leaning on the railing, observing Cario. He'd watched Atem march away from this point. Sighing again Yugi recalled the confrontation with Atem;

_Yugi had only just heard that they had arrived in Cario when he heard a door bang against the wall. Turning to look he saw a very angry Atem stomping towards him._

"_Atem?" Atem just walked past, "Atem? What's going on? Where are you going?"_

"_Leave it Yugi." Atem said. _

_Yugi frowned and ran to catch him up. He stood in front of Atem, blocking his path._

"_What is going on?" _

"_I'm sorting this."_

_Atem's voice was rising. _

"_Atem, calm down. Look, I can help you." _

"No._ I do this alone."_

"_Alone?" _

"_Yes." _

"_Please I can help you." _

"_No!" _

_Yugi paused then sighed, "You can't do this alone, Atem." _

_The response he got was Atem pushing past him, "Just watch me." _

_Yugi paused again before running after him again. Atem had already walked off the boat._

"_Atem!" _

_Atem turned on the spot, "No Yugi. I said no. I will deal with this, now just stop." _

_Yugi said nothing; he knew that there was no point arguing with Atem, he was just too angry. So Yugi just watched as Atem walked away._

It was rare seeing Atem that angry, but he seemed to be controlling it. Knowing Atem the best would be just to let Atem calm himself down. He couldn't really blame Atem for being angry, he had been so close to getting home but now couldn't which must be so infuriating and also heart breaking. Turning away Cario he walked in to find the others, except for Kaiba who had left earlier that day, sat around the table. Marik looked round at Yugi's arrival.

"Where's the Pharaoh?" He asked.

"He's gone into the town, but I would not suggest going after him for a while."

Marik didn't seem to listen to the last part of Yugi's sentence, "We were talking about how Zorc returned. I just don't see how he did it."

Yugi sat down thinking, "Me neither, he said something about the darkness in people's hearts."

There was a short pause before Yugi gasped, "That's it!"

"What's it?" Ishizu asked.

"Zorc was able to come back through the darkness in Atem." Yugi said, "There must have been a small amount left for Zorc to use to come back."

"Wait? I am lost, man." Joey said, "How could he come back, the Pharaoh destroyed him."

"That's the only confusing bit." Yugi said, "I don't know how he survived but Atem still has a small of amount of darkness which enabled Zorc to come back. I think he has worked that out which is why he is so angry."

"So, we have worked out how he returned." Mark said with a sigh, "But how do we defeat him?"

There was no response.

* * *

Zorc hummed a tune to himself, it was some annoying tune which a youth had been listening to far too loudly on some device which lives in a person's ears. Now Zorc could not get the blasted tune out of his head. He continued to hum this song to himself as he walked down the street, his plan was ready he knew what he was going to do. He had worked out that the guy who had walked into him earlier was in charge of a huge company which rivalled another company called Kaiba Corp. He stopped, looking up at his destination. A company called Visual Arts. The tall brass gates creaked slightly as he pushed them open. As he approached the building he could see that there were people rushing around inside, clearly very busy. He had guessed that he would have to manipulate his way to get to the CEO, so he invoked his shadow powers. He used them so that no one noticed him walk past them, they just continued with their day to day tasks. He used the thing called a 'Lift' which took him all the way to the top floor. There he found a woman at a desk in front of a door. This door had a golden plaque which read 'David Blackman; CEO'. Zorc smirked to himself before strolling towards the door. Opening it he found David Blackman seated at his desk, he looked up at Zorc's appearance.

"Excuse me, but do you have an appointment with me?"

Zorc just stared at him, his red eyes glazing intently at the latter's green ones.

"I must demand I know your business with me sir."

Again, Zorc said nothing. But he walked over to the desk where he towered over the man. His red eyes flashed dangerously. The CEO in front of him allowed fear to creep into his eyes but he remained defiant.

"Leave, or I will call security."

Zorc smirked, "Such brave words from a man about to die."

"What do you-" The man started but was cut off when a sharp pain entered his heart.

Zorc watched the man try to stand and get to the door. He commanded his shadow powers to work harder. Another choked cry came from the man as he dropped to the floor. Clutching his chest, Zorc knelt beside him.

"W-W-What d-do you want?" The dying man asked, his face turning pale.

"Your company." Was the response, "And now I have it."

* * *

Atem, who was still marching through the streets, suddenly stopped. He felt a sudden chill, as if something bad had just happened. Yet he could not place what it was, everything around him was fine, nothing bad was happening so why did he feel like something had? Frowning, he continued to walk, searching for any sign of Zorc. The walk or rather march through Cario had calmed him down, but he was still annoyed at the fact he had not managed to completely destroy Zorc.

'_And how is my least favourite Pharaoh doing today?_'

Atem sighed, choosing not to answer.

'_Oh.. I see. You think I am in Cario? Seriously Pharaoh, how narrow minded are you? Did you really think I would stay in Egypt?'_

Atem tried his best to ignore Zorc but that had now been noted.

'_Ignoring me Pharaoh? Well ok, this is what you get for ignoring me._'

Atem stopped dead in his tracks, he felt something pulled at him. It was like his soul was being pulled from his body. All of a sudden he it was like he was in a box, watching the world from his own eyes but unable to control his body. He watched as he walked on down the street, saw his fist raise and felt him punch a poor defenceless man. But he could do nothing to prevent it. He saw the horror in other people's eyes. He saw the man raise his fists to retaliate but could do nothing. It was like someone else was in control of his body, he could not control his body but could still feel everything that was going on. He felt the kick to his ribs, but still could do nothing. Eventually, his body ran away. Atem tried to regain control but despite his efforts he could still do nothing.

Then all of a sudden he was in control again. Pressing a hand to his bruised ribs he looked around, he was in an alleyway, with no one in sight. What had just happened?

'_Haven't you worked it out yet?!'_

The truth was he had a feeling he had but did not want to believe it.

'_We are connected, like your were before with that fool of a boy. But the difference here, I can control you. But you can do nothing to me._'

Atem made no response, he had nothing to say.

'_Don't believe me Pharaoh, it seems then I must show you._'

Atem was ready to be controlled again but instead a sharp pain erupted in in abdomen. Looking down he saw his shirt turning red and the blood that was flowing. It was a lot of blood that was flowing. He pressed his hand to his now injured abdomen and used the other to cling onto the wall for support. His breathing became shallow and he could feel the colour draining from his face due to his blood loss.

'_You don't look so good Pharaoh. Looks like you could do with some help. Oh wait there is none around._'

"I.. I will work out a way to stop you."

'T_hat's unlikely. Well, as much as I would like to taunt you some more I have business to attend to. Have a good sleep Pharaoh._' Zorc said, sarcastically.

Another searing pain to the chest, Atem felt himself collapse and the world turned black.

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Yeah… I'm just going to leave it there because well, you know me. My cliffhangers… well hopefully this is one XD

I know I am taking a while to update but I hope that you guys don't mind and the chapters are actually worth waiting for.

Please Review, it really brightens my day to read them!

Thank you for reading and I will see you soon!


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks for Reviewing: **Aqua girl 007, Halfinsane-HalfMental, Chaos Twin of Destruction, scourgestarleaderofMoonClan, SerenePanic, Atem-Lover4eva**

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! It belongs to Kazuki Takahashi.

As to the lateness of this chapter….. I have no excuse apart from this… Procrastination, I have been doing that a lot at the moment! :S Naughty Rose I know…

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**Chapter 4**

"He's been gone awhile now." Tea said.

"It might be worth going to look for him, just in case." Marik said.

Yugi sighed, "Don't." All eyes turned to him, "For all we know he's still angry in which case it is best to let him come back of his own accord. He might be on the way back right now."

There was a moment silence, "Well, Odion has gone to gather some things if when he comes back the Pharaoh has still not returned, then we go to find him."

Yugi sighed. He was concerned about the Pharaoh having been gone so long but the fact was the best thing for the Pharaoh was to come back in his own time. But knowing that he would never get this point across to the others he said nothing.

* * *

He was vaguely aware that he was still bleeding he could feel the blood flowing slowly through his limp fingers. But he could not do anything about it, it seemed that he was too weak. The only thing he could hope for was someone, preferably someone on the boat, would find him. He had no idea how long he had been lying there, maybe minutes or hours he did not know. All he could do hope that someone would find him.

* * *

Odion walked out of the shop, fiddling with the bag of groceries he had just bought. Walking down the street he was suddenly distracted by alleyway. He did not really understand why he stood there staring at it as it was an alleyway, there was nothing special about it. But then something was telling him that he needed to investigate the alley. Walking into the alleyway he very quickly realised that once in the alley you could not been seen by the main street. He looked around, he still was not quite sure why he had come down here, something had drawn him don't here but it seemed nothing would come of it. As he turned away he saw something in the corner of his eye. He turned to face what he had seen. A boy crumpled on the floor, but the boy looked familiar. Odion drew closer then rushed over to the fallen Pharaoh's side.

"Pharaoh?"

There was no response from the Pharaoh. Odion took in the Pharaoh's appearance, the King was pale. Just then he noticed something wet soaking into the material of his trousers, he looked down. Blood. Odion's eyes widened, it was a lot of blood. His eyes found the blood stained hand of the former Pharaoh, it seemed that it was the abdomen was the site of the injury. Gently, Odion moved the Pharaoh's hand trying to see what state the wound was in. It appeared, for now, the wound was not bleeding. It appeared that moving the hand had stirred the King; his eyes had opened and found Odion.

"My Pharaoh, are you alright?" Odion said.

"I've been better." Was the quiet response.

"Can you walk my Pharaoh? We need to get back to the boat."

"I can."

Odion had to support the Pharaoh, despite stating he was strong enough. If possible the Pharaoh grew paler once on his feet. They set off. It was a painfully slow journey, firstly the Pharaoh wanted to dodge the crowds for reasons he did not explain. Secondly, the Pharaoh was very weak and, although he did not and would not admit, he was in pain.

It was hard to tell how long they walked towards the boat; it could have been minutes or maybe hours. Odion was wrapped up in supporting the fading Pharaoh that he did not notice they were close until there was a cry of:

"Oh crap!"

It was Tristan, having seen the pair approaching and seen the state the Pharaoh was in had rushed over to help.

"What happened, Odion?" Tristan asked, pulling the Pharaoh's arm over his shoulder.

"I don't know, I just found him in an alleyway."

They were very close to the boat but it still took a little while to get there. Atem was fading fast, his wound was oozing blood again and his fading meant that he could not support his on weight. Finally making it to the boat they hoped to quietly get the Pharaoh into his room and fetch Mr Muto but as they arrived the bumped into Téa, who upon seeing the state of the Pharaoh shrieked.

"Oh my God! What has happened?"

"We don't know Téa, let us get him sorted and then we can try to figure this out." Tristan said.

Téa did let them pass but her shriek had attracted the attention of everyone on the boat. It was Joey and Yugi who arrived first. Yugi's face paled in an instant. He was desperate to find out what had happened but right now he needed to find Grandpa, he would be able to help Atem. Leaving Odion and Tristan to settle Atem, he ran around the boat trying to find Grandpa and eventually finding him asleep in a chair.

"Grandpa?" He called.

Grandpa stirred and opened his eyes, "What's wrong Yugi?"

"It's the Pharaoh. He's hurt, badly."

Grandpa got to his feet, "Well, let's take a look then."

* * *

Marik paced up and down. He was lost in his own thoughts. Up and down he walked. Then he stopped a thought had just crossed his mind. He'd been thinking about the situation and how the Pharaoh could have got himself into this situation when a thought came to him. What if Zorc had something to do with it? What if everything linked back to him? Marik left the room in a hurry; he had to talk to the Pharaoh. He had just been hurrying up the corridor towards the Pharaoh room when he ran into Yugi.

"Yugi, I need to talk to the Pharaoh."

"You can't. He's resting." Yugi replied, he eyed Marik, "Why?"

"I just…" Marik thought before continuing, "I've just had a thought which I need to talk to him about."

"You'll have to wait. Grandpa doesn't want him disturbed."

Marik sighed. There was no point trying to persuade Yugi to let him through, he would just have to wait.

* * *

There was a very odd atmosphere that following morning, apprehension was the word. Yugi stretched and walked towards the main room where everyone would be having something to eat. On the way he passed Atem's room, he found the door was closed. That must mean that he was still sleeping in there. Not that he was surprised, he had heard from Grandpa that Atem had been in bad shape. So with that in mind he was surprised to find the Pharaoh sitting one of the comfy chairs in the main room. He was still incredibly pale but his eyes were alert and, for the moment, seemed to be lost in thought. Yugi sat opposite him which seemed to bring the former King out of his thoughts.

"You alright?" Yugi asked.

"Yes, I'm fine Yugi."

"What happened though?"

At this point Marik moved over to listen as well.

"Zorc took control of me and did this.." He indicated the location of his wound, "to me."

"But how Pharaoh?" Marik asked.

"There is a link between myself and Zorc. He used the darkness in my, which I still have apparently, to get through but that means we are connected, much like our former link Yugi. He can talk to me and injure me but I cannot do the same. I also believe that the reason I have collapsed has something to do with him but I do not know what. What I do know is that Zorc is in Domino City so that's where we need to be."

There was a pause of a moment where only Yugi spotted a flicker of pain flash across the Pharaoh's face.

"Do you know how to stop him?" Marik asked.

Atem sighed, "I do not know. But I'll work it out."

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Well, I meant to have this up yesterday but I fell asleep writing it so it's a day late… My bad!

Please Review!

I hope you enjoyed and I shall see you next time!

~RedRosePetal


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks for Reviewing: **Aqua girl 007, Atem-Lover4eva, Chaos Twin of Destruction, SerenePanic, **

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! It belongs to Kazuki Takahashi.

Oh my gosh, I lost this document because I wrote it on my other computer and so when I saved it I lost the document then had to search the whole computer to find it and thank god I did!

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**Chapter 5**

"I want to know how the hell this happened!" A voice boomed, "I was gone for not even one week and I come back to this!"

"We're sorry Mister Kaiba. This company has just suddenly got more popular, there is no clear reason why."

"That's not bloody good enough!" Kaiba roared.

He paced for a few moments before turning back to his employee;

"Find a way to fix this."

With that Kaiba swept out of the office, Mokuba following close behind. Making his way to his office he was stomping. His stomping was so loud the people below could hear him stomping. The door to his office banged open, Kaiba marched over to his window and stared out of it. He could see the company. 'Visual Arts' was lit up like a Christmas tree. It made no sense. How could a company which had been no threat a week ago now be rivalling his.

"Seto, what are we going to do?" Mokuba asked.

"We're going to try like hell to make sure this company does not over take us."

"But I don't understand why you are worried. We are still more successful than them right?"

"There is not much between us now. I will not let these people over take us."

"But how Seto?"

"I'm not sure Mokuba, but I will figure it out."

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He might be the most powerful being in the world or about to be the most powerful being in the world. But he could not help acting like a child, well could you blame him? There is so much technology in this age he could never have known would have existed. For example, right now Zorc had discovered the delight of a swivel chair. He had discovered that the chair spins round. He had discovered that through flopping into the chair only to have it spin round. Naturally, he had then tried to spin it again to very amusing results. But after that moment he was satisfied and turned his attention to more pressing matters.

Zorc looked over the charts which showed the increase in sales in recent days. He was well on the way to becoming the most powerful being in the world. This was only the first step, first Domino City then the world. His gaze travelled to the window where he was the sign of 'Kaiba Corp' lit up. Turning to his computer he brought of a thing called 'Google' and typed in 'Kaiba Corp'. He knew that Kaiba Corp was currently ahead of them but he searched for some way to overtake it. But then it hit him. He knew what he could do. Picking up his telephone he dialled the number and the phone began to ring.

"Hello?"

"Hello Mister Kaiba, how are you on this fine evening?" Zorc said.

"Who is this?" Kaiba sounded irriated.

"Oh my apologies, I am Mister Necrophades. CEO of Visual Arts." "You." Kaiba was getting more angry, "What do you want?" "I have a proposal that I think you'll like. Come and see me in the morning, then we'll talk." With that Zorc hung up.

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The next morning came with Kaiba striding towards 'Visual Arts' with Mokuba hot on his heels. Kaiba strolled past the man at the front desk, disregarded the other employees who called at him to stop. He just walked past them. He slammed his finger at lift button. To say that Kaiba was in a bad mood was an understatement. He was still annoyed at the fact that Visual Arts was only just behind his company. Kaiba tapped his foot all of the way up in the lift, Mokuba stood silently beside him holding his suitcase. Mokuba had no idea what he could say, he thought it best that he say nothing. The lift door slide open revealing the top floor and Kaiba was striding towards the large wooden door at the end of the corridor. Kaiba was walking so fast that Mokuba had to run to keep up. Reaching the door Kaiba knocked and entered. He found a man dressed in a grey suit, with jet black hair and red eyes sat behind the desk, feet on the desk, reading the morning paper.

"Mister Kaiba." Zorc said, "How nice of you to call."

"What do you want?" Kaiba snapped.

Zorc didn't respond, only turned the page of his newspaper.

"I don't like my time being wasted, what do you want." Kaiba demanded.

Zorc turned another page of the paper, "Oh, look at that. Two big coffee shop chains have merged and become one."

"And how does that apply to me." Kaiba asked.

Zorc throw the paper on the floor, swung his legs off the desk, staring up at Kaiba.

"You merge your company with mine. That would make Visual Arts the biggest company in Japan."

Kaiba glared at Zorc, "This is the easiest no I have ever made."

Kaiba turned to leave but Zorc called to him, "You can't say no to me."

Kaiba laughed and turned to look at Zorc, "And what are you going to do?"

Zorc's eyes glistened dangerously. "This."

The room darkened, a purplish colour was displayed. Then dark clouds like objects swirled through the air heading towards Mokuba.

"Seto?" Mokuba said, backing away.

The cloud objects raced towards Mokuba but before Kaiba could reach his brother there was a cry of;

"SETO!"

And Mokuba collapsed. The room went back to its original colour but a purple haze surrounded Mokuba. Kaiba went to shake his brother's shoulder but he received something like an electric shock so he recoiled. Kaiba's head whipped round.

"What the hell did you do to him?"

"He's gone to the shadow realm."

Kaiba scoffed, "The place Yugi used to talk about. The bigger Yugi destroyed it."

"That's what you think."

Kaiba thought for a moment, he knew that Yugi was on his way back to Domino right now. He'd got some e-mail about helping the bigger Yugi out.

"You send him back right now."

"Merge with my company and I will."

"No!"

Zorc sighed, leaning back in his chair, "Then I guess I wouldn't bring your brother back."

Kaiba was glaring at Zorc, "If you won't bring him back then I will enlist the bigger Yugi to save him."

Zorc laughed evily, "The Pharaoh can't save your brother. He is weak and powerless and in fact he helped me send your brother to the shadow realm. It was _his _idea. Only you can save him now. So.. do we have a deal?"

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It was dark. He did not like it. How had he got here? Where was Seto? What was going on?

"Seto?" Mokuba called, "Seto where are you?"

A single tear spilled from his eye.

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Hey updated in 1 week rather then 2! Impressed? I am! WooHoo!

Please review guys, I hope you are enjoying this!

I will hopefully see you again very soon! The story is starting to come to the end but we are not there yet and some more action is to come yet!

Until next time!

~RedRosePetal


	6. Chapter 6

Thanks for reviewing:** Aqua girl 007, MckinlayHeatherBell, Chaos Twin of Destruction, SerenePanic and Atem-Lover4eva**

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! It belongs to Kazuki Takahashi.

I hate having a cold. All the sneezing and coughing! Man… oh well.

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**Chapter 6**

It had taken a little then the Pharaoh wanted to return to Domino. They had been stuff in Egypt because of some issue that he had no legal documents to allow him to travel. But that had been sorted and they had finally landed in Domino. The problem now was people faffing around. Téa was faffing around with her luggage, as one had gone astray which was still to annoy the Pharaoh. He was getting restless. He had still not worked out how to destroy Zorc and knowing that the longer he took the more Zorc's power would grow this worried him. He was standing slightly away from the rest of the group, he'd moved away to calm down but turning he returned to the group.

"I'm sorry Miss but it seems that your bag was put on the wrong plane." The airport worker was saying, "I can contact the airport in Cairo to find where it is now but we may not have it here for a while."

"But how was it even put on the wrong plane in the first place, it was clearly labelled!" Téa asked.

"It's just a mistake that does happen."

Atem let out a frustrated huff as Téa continued to argue with the man. Yugi heard this, turned and seeing the expression on the latter's face called to Téa;

"We'll wait outside Téa."

Yugi then tugged the Pharaoh's sleeve as a hint to move outside. While Ishizu stayed with Téa the others made their way outside, it was very sunny in Domino.

"So what now?" Joey asked, turning to Atem.

"Find Zorc." Was the answer.

Joey and Tristan exchanged a look, they both had guessed that the Pharaoh had not worked out how to stop Zorc yet or he would have told them.

"But what do you plan to do?" Joey asked, "Is there some way you can reason with him or use some form of – hey, what's Kaiba doing here?"

Turning, they saw Seto Kaiba striding towards them with a face of fury; they had never seen such a expression on his face. Due to his long legs Kaiba was with them in seconds. Within a fraction of a second Kaiba had grabbed the Pharaoh by the neck and pinned him to the wall.

"You son of a –" Kaiba yelled, before Yugi cut across him.

"Kaiba stop! What are you doing?"

"Tell me." Kaiba spat, glaring at the Pharaoh.

A flick of a frown crossed the Pharaoh's face.

"TELL ME!" Kaiba yelled, increasing the pressure around the Pharaoh's neck. "Why did you send Mokuba to the shadow realm! WHY!"

"Mokuba's in the shadow realm?" Yugi asked, "How?"

"Because this rat sent him there." Kaiba was literally shaking with anger, this grip was becoming tighter on the Pharaoh.

Tristan and Joey ran forward and dragged Kaiba off of the Pharaoh, who fell to the ground. Kaiba fought against Joey and Tristan's grip.

"Why are you protecting him?" Kaiba barked. "He knows what he's done. But he not man enough to own up to it!"

"Kaiba calm down!" Yugi said, he was kneeling protectively in front of Atem. "Atem wouldn't do something like that.

"How would you know!" Kaiba bellowed, "You don't even know who he is! You only learnt his true name days ago!"

"Yugi knows the Pharaoh more then any of us do." Marik said, stepping between Yugi and the still struggling Kaiba, "Plus, even I know that the Pharaoh would never do that. It was no him who sent Yugi to the Shadow Realm."

Kaiba finally decided to stop fighting Joey and Tristan's grip, "Then who did."

"Zorc."

All eyes turned to Atem, whose voice was hoarse due to the near strangulation and who was holding his hand against his throat.

"No." Kaiba said, "It was the guy at Visual Arts with a surname I can't pronounce. But he said that _you _told him to."

Atem suddenly shot to his feet, "Now now Mister Kaiba don't give away all of my secrets."

They all looked at Atem in disbelief. Did this mean that Atem had actually done such a dark deed? Atem strolled towards Kaiba;

"You can't tell these brats all about me because then where's the fun in watching them stress about trying to discover me?"

"Atem.. what? What are you saying?" Yugi asked.

Atem turned to look at him, it was then that Yugi noticed that Atem's eyes were red not amethyst.

"What is going?" Marik asked, he too had spotted the different colour in Atem's eyes.

"I bet you are not as innocent as you want as to believe you are." Atem said, looking at Yugi.

While most of them glared at Atem, not believing what they were hearing. Yugi, however, was not fazed at all.

"I know that Atem would never say that. You are not Atem."

"Oh, then who am I?"

"Zorc, the Dark One."

Atem or rather Zorc laughed, "Clever, I would have never guessed that someone like you would guess that."

"Back off." Joey said.

Zorc turned and walked towards him, "Oh look it the goofy sidekick who thinks that he's tough. You are nowhere near that."

Joey squared up to the possessed Pharaoh, "You leave my friend alone, Zorc. Oh, and know this. We are coming for you."

A laugh then, "I'll believe that when I see it."

With that Joey watched as the red dissolved from Atem's eyes. Joey only had a second to react as Atem collapsed, but he caught him.

Kaiba stared at the fallen Pharaoh, "What was that?"

"That wasn't Atem there, that was Zorc." Yugi said, eyes on Atem who was twitching, "Zorc is the one behind this, he is the one who sent Mokuba to the Shadow Realm."

"Then go and confront him. I want my brother back." Kaiba snapped.

There was a pause as they watched Atem, who had regained consciousness. He straightened up, swayed slightly but managed to stay on his feet, a hand on his wound.

"Atem, you ok?" Yugi asked.

A nod was the response. Satisfied, Yugi turned back to Kaiba as a question had come to him.

"Why was Mokuba even sent to the shadows?"

"I refused to merge with Visual Arts and that creep sent him to the shadows."

Kaiba glared at Atem, apparently he was still convinced that he had something to do with it.

"Then that is where I need to go." Atem said.

Yugi turned to him, "What will you do?"

"I am going to fix this."

There was no stopping Atem who had already asked Kaiba for directions and set off. The others hurried to keep up with him. They reached the company within minutes. Atem starred up at the building. Zorc was in there, doing who knew what. He was still not sure what he was up to but he was about to find out. That was a major flaw with Zorc he would sometimes give away what he was planning, if he could get Zorc to tell him that it would give him more of a chance to find out a way to beat him.

"I'm coming with you." Kaiba said, "If you screw up then I will merge."

"You're willing to let this freak have you company?" Joey said.

"To save my brother, I have to." Kaiba stated.

Kaiba made to move but Atem blocked his path.

"No. Kaiba you must stay here. I will sort this."

Kaiba seemed to battle with this statement before glaring at him he said; "Fine. But when screw this up and I swear I will swing for you."

Atem nodded, he had expected this kind of response. He felt Yugi trying to gain his attention but ignoring it he turned and walked into Visual Arts.

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So there we go my friends…

I thought that this would not take up a whole chapter, this was originally only half the chapter but it took up the whole chapter so that means this story should have two more chapter instead of only one!

Please Review!

See you soon!

~RedRosePetal


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